Saturday, April 21, 2012

Welcome Sarah Makela today

Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Sarah
Mäkelä. Please let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink and make yourself at
home. Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.

Q: So tell us about
yourself. What got you interested in writing? Who are your publisher(s)?

Thanks for having me
here, Dawn!

I’m an author of
paranormal and cyberpunk/sci-fi romance with Changeling Press. I also love
writing urban fantasy, but I don’t have anything published in that genre yet. I
love to travel, play video games, and read.

My interest in writing
came when I was really young after reading a book of poetry my mom wrote. I
started writing here and there in the meantime from childhood, but that
interest solidified into what it is today after reading Laurell K. Hamilton and
Christine Feehan. I knew then what I wanted to write. Dark stories filled with
the paranormal.

Q: What do you consider
to be the key elements of a great story?

In my opinion, one of
the most important elements in making a great story is the characters. If it
has a hero and heroine the reader can get behind and cheer for, you’re doing
really well, but then again, you can have the best characters in the world, but
if there isn’t a solid plot then it’s not going to be an enjoyable read.

Q: Please tell us about your latest release.
What inspired it?

My latest release is a western paranormal
romance called Captive Moonlight. It’s about a woman named Charlotte whose betrothed, Joe, is taken by a group
of men looking for werewolf laborers. She tries to get help from the town, but
the sheriff doesn’t feel it’s his place since Joe is a werewolf. It is then up
to Charlotte to do whatever it takes to track down Joe
and win him back, regardless of it putting her life in danger.

My main inspiration for the story was from a
couple songs actually. The songs are The Longest Road by Morgan Page feat
Lissie, which gave me the western-ish mood of the story, and also Fight for You
by Morgan Page feat Lissie, which inspired the woman fighting for her man
aspect of the plot. They’re both easy to find on YouTube, if you’re interested.
Besides, I’ve also always wanted to write a historical story since I double
majored in English/History for a while in college before switching solely to
English.

Q: Among your own
books, have you a favorite? A favorite hero or heroine?

I’ve enjoyed all of my
books. I wouldn’t want to put the time and effort into creating a story that
didn’t make me think, “Wow, that’s an awesome story.” My favorite story and
characters tends to be the one I’m working on at any given time. I am proud of
JUNGLE FIRE and those characters (Kyle and Rubia) though.

Q: Which of your books
has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?

I’d have to say that
JUNGLE FIRE was the easiest. I feel like I started at one moment writing page
one, and in the next moment, I looked up and had written The End. I’d thought
it might be hard since I’d written the first book JUNGLE HEAT years before
that, so I had hoped it would still have at least close to the same feel to it
as the first one. The hardest... I’d say CAPTIVE MOONLIGHT to an extent since I
had never written a western before, so I had a lot of research to do, but it
was also fun. The most fun would probably be STOLEN since I was dealing with
superheroes and had a lot of fun planning the story.

Q: Which comes first,
the story, the characters or the setting?

This really depends on
the story for me. Some books will come to me one way, while another story comes
a different way. Most often, I’ll have an initial idea. I mull over the idea
for a while then I come up with characters. Typically, only after having the
characters will I think about the plot. The setting is never my concern until
I’ve figured out the characters and the plot. My reasoning is that characters
are crucial to how a plot is going to turn out because like in real life,
different people are going to strive for different things even if placed in the
same situation.

Q: What part of a book
has been the easiest to write? The hardest?

I’d say the easiest
part of writing a book would be the beginning and the end when energy and
enthusiasm for the project is at a high. The hardest would be sticking with it
and keeping dedicated when the initial rush has waned and you can’t see the
light at the end of the book. ;-)

Q: What is the
hardest/the easiest part of writing for you?

The whole process of going
from initial idea to having your book for sale (and then marketing it to
potential readers) is hard work. I love coming up with new ideas and new
characters when the newness (as mentioned in the last question) is high and
buzzing. It’s challenging sometimes to keep sitting down day after day to write
when the project isn’t new and fresh, then on top of writing a writer has other
important jobs like marketing, editing, etc.

Q: What genres and
authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?

Q: What do you hope
readers take with them, after reading one of your stories? What do you hope
they feel, or learn?

I’d love for my readers to take away the
fact that even though love is hard, it’s worth fighting for. I’d like them to
feel happiness, enjoyment, and the sense that they were transported away from
the everyday for a while.

Q: If you could describe
yourself in three words, what would they be?

Witty, optimistic, kind
... I don’t know. I’m not pompous though!

Q: What is the strangest source of writing
inspiration you’ve ever had?

The strangest would be from a game I like to
play sometimes called Football Manager, which is a soccer game where you manage
your soccer team. Yeah, I was daydreaming about hot soccer players and crafted
an idea for an erotic romance. I’m not really a contemporary romance author,
but I think I’d probably make an exception for that one.

Q: So a bit of naughty truth, do you ever do
a little real life research to make your books spicy or do you just have a
great imagination? (If you write erotic stories-please disregard if you don’t)

Hmm, perhaps a little of both...? *grins*

Q: If you had to choose one person to have
dinner with, who would it be? And why?

I only get to choose one? Darn... lol Well,
I think it’d have to be David Beckham. I think he’s quite attractive and
talented. He seems like a really nice person too.

Q: What is the most ridiculous thing that
you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?

I’m not really sure. I know I’d thought of a
few things to have my villain in STOLEN do that I ended up not using, but I
can’t really recall what they were.

Q: Want to tell us
about any projects you are working on?

Currently, I’m wrapping
up BLACKLIST ROGUE, the third book in my Hacked Investigations cyberpunk
romance series (it’ll be out June 2012), and then I’ll be working on JUNGLE
BLAZE the third in my Amazon Chronicles paranormal romance series. I also have
a couple of side projects. One is a paranormal romance novella with a werewolf
and a special magic user, and the other is a post-apocalyptic paranormal
romance novel.

Q:
Anything else you want to add?

Thanks
again for having me today, Dawn! I enjoy hearing from readers, so feel free to
contact me through my website at http://www.sarahmakela.com
:-)

Thanks
for being my guest at Dawn’s Reading Nook. May you have many sales and
wonderful reviews for your books.

A
gentlewoman will do whatever it takes to rescue her captive werewolf betrothed.

When her betrothed, Joe, is taken captive by a group of men looking for
werewolf laborers, it's up to Charlotte to track him down and win him back --
even if that means putting her own life in danger.

Captive Moonlight Excerpt:

Charlotte wrapped her arms around Joe's broad torso and scraped
her fingernails gently along the length of his muscular back. His breath came
out quickly against her skin as he brushed feather-light kisses against her
neck.

He nudged her thighs apart. Anticipation built within her as his hand dipped to
her pussy. He parted her wet folds with his callused fingers and pushed one
finger inside her.

She moaned, enjoying the tantalizing sensations his skilled attention brought
about. She looked into his eyes, and he grinned down at her. The look of
masculine satisfaction that he could please his lover was written clearly on
his face.

She opened her mouth to protest when Joe removed his finger, but then he thrust
his firm cock inside her, filling her so completely in one smooth stroke.

Charlotte dug her nails into his back. Joe's eyes nearly rolled back in his
head, and she couldn't help but smile as he arched into her touch. Her
betrothed liked a little pain with his sex. Not much, just nails and some
teeth. Then again, it was befitting of a werewolf.

They didn't talk much about that side of who he was. She figured he would share
what he wanted with her. Sometimes he did, but she suspected he preferred to
pretend like they were both normal. People were too quick to judge others by
their race, or even species, these days.

Charlotte didn't care about any of that. Being with Joe was her only need. She
trailed a fingertip across his cheek while her other hand continued to dig into
his flesh.

He met her gaze. His eyes, normally dark brown, were now wolf amber. "What
did I do to get such a sweet lady like you?" he said, his voice gravelly
and low.

She laughed, but the sound caught in her throat as his lips caressed her
breast. "I wonder that too. Maybe it was destiny."

He flicked his tongue over her nipple before pulling it into his mouth. He
sucked on it, bringing pleasure sweeping through her. His other hand trailed
along her full hips, which he insisted made her curvaceous and luscious.

She liked his answer.

He thrust even faster. Desire built within her as they reached ever closer
toward climax. Charlotte leaned back against the pillow, clinging to him as he
became the only thing real in her life. "Joe..."

Joe brushed kisses up from her breast to her neck until he finally placed a
kiss on her lips. "Yes, love?" Hunger filled his eyes as he watched
her. "You're getting close. So tight." He slid in and out in longer
strokes.

He knew what she liked. "I love it when you talk like that." Her body
clenched as orgasm rushed toward her. She gasped and gripped his back. Joe
covered her lips with his, ravishing her mouth until she didn't know which way
was up. He was the hungry wolf to her somewhat innocent maid.